Prior electrical contacts for use in deep sea water or other hostile environment, such as outer space or nuclear irradiated atmosphere, have juxtaposed mating electrical contacts arranged in parallel planes with mating movement normal to the planes, see U.S, Pat. Nos. 3,657,681; 3,784,959; 3,848,949.
In deep sea operations, such as offshore drilling and production operations, prior electrical control systems were somewhat restricted in the number of mating electrical contacts because the diameter of the pipe or casing imposed a space limitation thereon restricted by such diameter. The planar area in which the electrical contacts were arranged was usually relatively small. Also, many prior underwater connectors characterized by juxtaposed planar arrangements of contacts often utilized gravitational forces to mate the contacts and mechanical springs were used to compensate for or equalize such forces. Such typical electrical connectors included a cylindrical body having the electrical contact elements provided at one end of the body, such as across the end face thereof.